the struggle continues

It may be worth going to your doctor to ask if you can take another medication with it. This is what I'm planning to do tomorrow. I also feel very hot at times, but then that could be because for menopausal reasons. My son takes two different medications for anxiety and he's very happy with this. One is a mood stabiliser, quetiapine, the other is sertraline, an anti-depressant. I feel that fluoxetine is more of a mood stabiliser than paroxetine, which I was on before. I feel generally quite flat at the moment and in need of something to lift me up, not just something to stop me feeling anxious. I think it does help to up your dose sometimes, like I have done today, just by 20mg. But I would advise you to ask about combining fluoxetine with something else. Best of luck.

I was going to come off fluoxetine because I still didnt feel good at 18 weeks.  However after 2 days of the new medication and the lowering of fluoxetine I felt like I was back to square one, nausea, dry retching, loss of appetite and to cut a long story short went back onto 20mg fluoxetine and am now feeling significantly better.  I also take quetiapine 50mg (as mentioned by dopy) at night which helps sleep.

From what I remember David, you haven't been on fluoxetine long and this is a very slow acting med.  Do you have Ativan or other benzo to help through the bad days?  I'm not sure if putting up the dose is a good thing as from what I've read, it can be like starting again.  For some people though it helps them so it's very much an individual thing.

Hope this helps, I know exactly what you're going through.  I'm still not there yet at 20 weeks but feel a lot better than I did.

Good luck,

felinelover

Hi David,

I found this 'Timeline for recovery from Prozac' and thought it may be helpful for you:

I thought it would be useful to provide a typical timetable for the journey to recovery. I have been on fluox for over 8 weeks and have read many, many posts of people's experiences here. Though everybody is different, it seems there is a common path for those where this medication has been successful. Many people seem to give up too soon, or change their dosage too soon because this is a very, very slow acting drug. My hope is, this will help those who are questioning their recovery by giving hope that, with time, this is a magnificent med when it does work.

First, the disclaimer: I am not a doctor nor am I capable of giving medical advice to any one specific person. This is merely a summary of the experiences I have read about. Further, there are many exceptions to this typical experience. Many claim success the first week while many others find that prozac just is not the right medication for them.

Further, this experience is typical for the person who has taken fluox in the past. For some reason, first time users seem to get much faster results and usually less side effects.

Also, this is a typical timetable for those who do not change their dosage. Changes in dosage seem to lengthen the time for recovery, almost like starting over.

So, in short, here is what I have read to be typical:

Week 1: This week can go either way. Some find almost immediate improvement while other see the side effects (see weeks 2-3) after the first day.

Weeks 2,3: These are almost always the most difficult. Anxiety and depression can get worse than before the medication. Side effects kick in, these can include sleeplessness, nightmares, diarrhea, nausea, hot flashes, excessive sweating (especially at night), dry mouth, muscle twitches, overall muscle weakness and pain, zero appetite, and very negative mental outlook. My advice is, take these one day at a time and try not to get discouraged, not every day will be bad and better times are ahead!

Weeks 4,5: Some improvement. The side effects lessen to some point, and there are moments when you start to feel normal. Typically evenings are the best and mornings the worst. Many start playing around with dosage at this point because they are told that the Prozac should be working, my advice: hold the course!

Weeks 6,7: More improvement. Maybe 50% to 70% better than before starting. There are often blips where you feel just terrible for a few days, but not usually over a week. Some side effects lessen, but also you may get new side effects. Hang in there, you are getting ready to turn a corner!

Weeks 8-10: Even more improvement. There still are blips, but they are less severe and shorter, maybe 1-2 days. Not normal yet, but getting better day by day. The side effects are usually 75% or so gone. Light at the end of the tunnel!

Weeks 10-12: Maybe this is wishful thinking for me (I'm not here yet), but this is where most see the best results. Some quotes from this time period: "best in months", "Amazing", "Feel good", "brilliant". Again, this is for the people for whom the prozac did work, not everyone, and for those who stuck to their original dosage. For some, this happens at 7 weeks, for some, 3-4 months. But, from what I have read, 10-12 weeks is the payoff time.

I hope this helps, please let me know if it does! Others, please feel free to offer differences, or additions to this summery. The purpose is to give those struggling an idea of what to expect. I feel for everyone struggling through this terrible disease, it's truly awful, but you will get through it! There are many great posters here willing to help with questions and are very supporting. I am grateful to them all!

Last edited by betterdays; 16-07-14 at 19:51.

Hope this helps, it gave me hope when I was at my worst,

f l